An early buyer of an Arcimoto electric three-wheel Fun Utility Vehicle (FUV) was getting ready for his vehicle in Texas and put in his request for a personalized plate. But “FUV” was rejected. The reason?

It’s considered indecent … I guess?

Texas Says No FUV You

In the opinion of Texas, “FUV” is “defined as profane, swear, or curse words.”

No FUV for You, FU!

In order to understand the complexity of how this crazy world of ours works, we found out that the Texas Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) works with MyPlates for its vanity plate requests. After a chat with a representative from MyPlates, the soon-to-become owner of an initial ArcimotoFUV was told that they thought FUV would likely be rejected. Still, they proceeded to order the plate, and then received the official rejection notice.

Here is the Texas DMV’s response:

Dear …..,

The purpose of my email is to inform you that the plate message FUV on layaway has been declined by the TxDMV under the criteria “criteria (B) vulgarity (defined as profane, swear, or curse words)”. However, you have a couple of options that can still result in getting that great My Plates plate for your vehicle:

*You can choose a new plate message to replace the one declined. Simply contact us at 888-769-7528, M-F 8a-5p and we’ll quickly update your order!

*You can appeal the TxDMV’s decision. Appeals must be submitted in writing via email. Below you will find the appeal email address information. In making an appeal, you may wish to provide explanation, justification and perhaps documentation to support why you believe your declined plate message should be approved.

*You may request a refund.

Please contact My Plates at 888-769-7528 and inform us of your decision within 3 business days so that we may assist you in getting your request completed.

Thank you for your order, and I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.

Note to Texas DMV: “Arcimoto FUV” Stands For FUN!

We’re always in touch with our favorite startups and this story just came up in a friendly chat today. My contact told me: “I suppose if you’ve never heard the term FUV before, it’s understandable. I would imagine ‘FU’ has been rejected.”

But seriously, come on Texas! The EV revolution has already happened with plenty of good humor, and when it comes to vanity plates, humor ranks high.

We hope this story brightened up your weekend. And as a side note, this in no way means we look unfavorably on Texas. It probably could have happened at any DMV.

The F Stands For FUN!

About the Author

Nicolas Zart Nicolas was born and raised around classic cars of the 1920s, but it wasn’t until he drove an AC Propulsion eBox and a Tesla Roadster that the light went on. Ever since he has produced green mobility content on various CleanTech outlets since 2007 and found his home on CleanTechnica.

His communication passion led to cover electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, renewable energy, test drives, podcasts, shoot pictures, and film for various international outlets in print and online. Nicolas offers an in-depth look at the e-mobility world through interviews and the many contacts he has forged in those industries.

His favorite taglines are: “There are more solutions than obstacles.” and “Yesterday’s Future Now”